Rocky Mountain News July 3 :Houston offers brent barry 4 year 24 million deal

Who knows, maybe it is a 6 year contract, with the last two at the team's option.

Remember the early squealing about 3 players for TMac being to many and hurting our depth.

 

most remember to contact the rockets in few years when I'm 32 and my best bball years are behind me, if this is how they give money away

 

Hey, after reading some of the numbers being thrown around, $24Mx4 is starting to look cheap!

 

Barry surfing easily the waves of free agency


This summer Brent Barry sits with his pals on the deck of his home on the water in Hermosa Beach, Calif., looks deep into the Pacific Ocean and talks seriously about free agency.

Barry is one of the prime prospects on a thin list of free agents this summer. And his friends are full of suggestions.

"Dude, you gotta go to San Antonio," one friend will say. (Did I mention these friends are surfers?) "You go there and you get five, maybe six more shots a game, guaranteed. Dude, if you go there I'll pick you on my fantasy league team. Make you one of my first nine picks. I swear."

Every year, in every sport, a free agent is signed and a news conference is held at which the free agent, who just made a deal for maybe $30 million, tells the assembled reporters, "This has been the most difficult time of my life. And my family and I are just happy the process is over."

Yeah, it's tough sitting at home worrying whether you're going to earn $30 million or $35 million.

But Barry, 32, a Sonics guard for the past five seasons, is the anti-free agent. He isn't overwhelmed by the media sibilance. He's enjoying the process. He understands his great good fortune. These are the best of times, not the worst of times. His life is elaborately placid.

"It's kind of flattering to have teams call you," Barry said. "Maybe it's some team that's kicked your ass in the past, or maybe you kicked their ass and now they're talking to you about playing for them and you're wondering how you could fit in."

Barry's mentor in all things basketball is Chris Mullin, recently appointed executive vice president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors. A long time ago, Mullin gave him advice on free agency.

"Mully told me that being a free agent isn't about the money, it's about getting a chance to play where you feel like you fit in," Barry said. "The decision should be made on how you fit in, the style of play, the teammates that you'll be around.

"He told me it's not about chasing the money. He said it should be about basketball and where you want to be. You don't have many opportunities in your career to have the chance to make that decision."

The last time Barry was a free agent was disastrous. It was 1999, the year of the lockout, and when the lockout ended players were scrambling to find teams. Barry signed with Chicago at the beginning of the post-Michael Jordan era. It was the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now Barry's cellphone is turned on and ringing. He expects to make a decision sometime this week.

"I'm not going to parade around the country, meet with other teams, go out for a steak dinner and make a decision," Barry said. "Teams know what I have to bring to the table. I don't have to sell myself."

My advice to the Sonics would be to sign Barry now. Give him a fourth year if he wants it. This young, rebuilding team needs his veteran leadership. And it needs his presence in the community.

My advice to Barry is similar to his surfer friend's: Get out. Sign with San Antonio or Denver, Indiana or the Lakers. Go with a team that can win.

Sign someplace where you can be the missing link to a championship — the shooter the Spurs need or the playmaker the Pacers are missing.

The Sonics are playing a waiting game. Seeing what another team is willing to offer Barry. If they don't match that offer, it will be a clear sign to Barry that it's time to go.

"I think the (Sonics) organization is at a crossroads and my career is at a crossroads," Barry said. "The buzz around the Sonics has been that they're in a rebuilding situation, and maybe the time has come to do more if they are fully committed to that. Get younger."

The Sonics are the devil that Barry knows. The other teams interested in him are part of the great unknown.

"There's a comfort level in Seattle," Barry said. "There's prior knowledge. I like my teammates. But I have concerns about every situation I'm looking at. The city, style of play, environment, past history, direction, all of that. But right now I think I have to wait and see how some of the other dominoes fall in free agency. Where the other guys go."

Guys like the Lakers' Kobe Bryant.

When it becomes clear that Bryant is staying in Los Angeles, other teams looking for a shooting guard will become more aggressive with Barry.

In the meantime, Barry doesn't sweat the decision. He surfs. Last month he spent a couple of weeks in Costa Rica.

"You're either a surfer, or you just surf," he said. "I just surf. I just go out there and have a good time. Living on the beach for the last five years and seeing those guys out there every morning, it seemed like a lot of fun. And, at the end of every season, I like to pick a spot somewhere that is far removed from basketball and the NBA.

"Costa Rica is not like Philadelphia or Boston in December. It's the perfect place to do something completely different and get away from the game for a while. When you're out in the water, all you're thinking about is the next wave. Nothing else is on your mind."

And for the guy who surfs, but isn't a surfer, the waves are rideable. And the experience is cathartic. And the days are rejuvenating.

Too many free agents talk about their experience as if it's akin to the pain of unemployment. Brent Barry knows the truth about his job and his situation.

At this stage of Barry's career, life's a beach.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001972079_kell05.html


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No mention of Houston in the article at all!

 

Sounds like a cool guy, though. Surfing rocks!

 

Surfing all summer instead of practicing.

 

Hmmm?

 

Well said.

We need to keep focus on the core and fill in with role players. I like Fisher and I think we'll get him at a better price (for 2 - 3 years), while we develop Gaines. That's just me.

We still need a backup center you know. Come on CD.

 

That's news. Doubtlessly that has been flying below Rox' radar. Come on, it is being worked. Hard.

 

Just a dumb thought. Could it be the better waves on the West Coast vs the flat Gulf Coast could enter into his decision? (ie Lakers). Well I guess it's too cold to surf in Seattle so maybe not.


Houston Native

 

Barry's no spring chicken. As long as he can be in shape come the start of the season, I don't see why he should be forgoing his surfing fun every day so he can spend 6 hours in the gym.

 

He should compliment Yao and T Mac nicely.Athleticism and team defense come along too with Barry,but when the ahtleticism goes that ability to shoot will make Barry a lot of money in today's NBA.The league has become very young and short on fundamentals.So much so,that the ability to do one thing well,pays dearly.(on and off the court).Lets go get him.

 

Well, actually, surfing is very good conditioning. All that swimming and carrying the board and whatnot.

It wouldn't hurt him to do some mental conditioning when he gets here though. I'm sure JVG will break some tape and teach somethin' somethin' about defense. Then he can sweat that out.

 

GATER,

Someone pointed out to me that the MLE is projected to be ~$5.3 to $5.4 million this year. If that's the case, then it would make more sense that the Rockets are offering the MLE. Since every article I've read indicates that Seattle wants to keep him & has no mention of a possible S&T with the TE, I'm going to assume that that is what they're offering. It just doesn't make sense that the Rockets would be negotiating with Barry (& not Seattle) with the intent being to use the TE. Seattle doesn't have to agree to do a S&T.

With this in mind, if it's the MLE that we're using, the Rockets could only give Barry annual raises of 10%.

Thus, the revised "pay out" would look like this:

Yr1 = $5,200,000
Yr2 = $5,720,000
Yr3 = $6,292,000
Yr4 = $6,921,200
Tot = $24,133,200

I believe that this is very important, because we can use the TE to get a much better backup center than is available through free agency this year.

 

Costa Rica is pretty far away from Seattle. A plane ride from Houston is probably just as close. .

 

Count me among those who are wary of signing Barry for 24/4. RIET's posts have made the most sense to me so far. I like Barry. I think he would be a great asset for the team in the short-term. However, there's no question to me that 24/4 is overpaying for him. And CF.net-ters should be the last group that needs to be reminded about the dangers of overpaying. I think questions about Barry's effectiveness in three years and ability to defend point guards are legitimate. I remember similar discussion regarding Glen Rice. Maybe they're different players, but to me, there are still significant question marks surrounding Barry as a fit. If Barry were the final piece to a championship team, it might be a different story, but signing Barry doesn't compensate for the need for a bruiser 4/5 and a defensive-minded point. If anything, it accentuates it.

On the other hand, 24/4 isn't that bad. It's the six-year deals that have really killed the Rockets in the past. There are no current indicators that Barry's on the decline. It's not unreasonable to think he will be productive for most if not all of his contract. But I think it's a mistake to psych yourself into deals like this by taking the most optimistic view.

Barry's not irreplacable. If we can get him for a reasonable amount and length of time, great. But I'm not going to lose any sleep if he doesn't come to Houston.

 

He is a shooter. He is not going to one day wake up and lose his touch from the arch. He may lose everything else like quickness (however little he starts out with ), atheletism, but he will always be a deadly shooter, who might even get better with age and experience. I don't mind a 4 year deal, maybe even with 2 more added as a "team option". WIth a combo of T-mac and Yao, there will always be a spot on this team for him.

 

Keep in mind that Glen Rice was awlful in NY, and to a certain degree LA. He seemed to be going downhill, years before coming to Houston.

Barry on the other hand, just came off one of his best years. Especially from 3 point land. Looking at whats available on the free agent market, he seems to be the best fit and worth the gamble.

 

You must've misread it. I don't think we can even offer that with the TE.

So this would mean we're trading MoT for him straight up, which would be bad for both sides.